Paranormal Unit: Medium
by Sheltigrrl Moonfire
Summary: Spin-off; totally original characters and plotlines. NYC is full of paranormal creatures, and with them, paranormal crimes. Jahari and Ritze, two unusual detectives, investigate them. Episode 1.
1. The Corpse on the Bed

A/N/Disclaimer: I haven't written fanfiction for a long time, so... here goes. I own the characters, except for Ritze, who belongs to a friend of mine, and I own the plot, but the concept of Law and Order and any characters I bring in from the original series' belong to Dick Wolf. Thanks and dedicated to Mala and Nill, my betas, and also to Nev, who let me use Ritze, and Kylie, who read it first.

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**Chapter 1: The Corpse on the Bed**

**In the criminal justice system, supernatural crimes are considered especially dangerous. In New York City, these treacherous criminals are handled by an elite squad known as the Paranormal Unit.**

**These are their stories.

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**

"Angel! Hey, Angel, I'm home," Jack Rosario called out as he shut the apartment door behind him. "Ange?"

The apartment was quiet. Too quiet, thought Jack as he made his way through the hall to the bedroom. "Honey? Are you here?"

Angel was always at home before him. _Always._ Something wasn't right.

He opened the bedroom door. "Angel?" He flicked on the light.

"Oh my God!"

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"I had just come home from work," Jack found himself explaining to the police later. "Angel always comes -came -home before me, so I expected she'd be here. And when she wasn't -well, didn't seem to be, I went into the bedroom looking for her. And -I found... _this_."

Detective Jahari Killikoi nodded and folded up the notebook he had been writing in. "So you didn't see anyone?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"No," said Jack. "The whole place was totally quiet. That was the weirdest thing about it."

Jahari nodded again. "I see," he said slowly. "Thanks, and I'm sorry for your loss." Jack didn't say anything. He sank down in a chair as everything that had just happened slowly sank in to him.

_No matter how many times I go through this, _thought Jahari, _I don't think I'll ever get used to it. I mean, the guy just lost his **wife**, and I question him about it. Poor guy -I feel so sorry for him._

He went into the bedroom; his partner and the CSI team were already there. Ritze saw him and came over. "Did you talk to the husband?" she asked. She used sign language, as she always did -Ritze was deaf. Jahari nodded, but didn't say anything. He watched her with one eye; the other was scanning the room. Ritze saw him looking and sighed, gesturing to the body on the bed. "Death by vampire - what a way to go. No offense," she added quickly with a sheepish smile.

"None taken," he signed back distractedly. The scene in the room was a mess. The place reeked, at least to Jahari's sensitive nose, of blood, venom, and semen. There were CSI agents everywhere, taking notes, testing samples, and photographing the bed. There had clearly been a struggle; various pieces of furniture had been overturned, drawers had been pulled out, and even the curtains were torn, shredded as if by claws.

_And they probably were,_ thought Jahari with a feeling of horror creeping into his stomach.

The body hadn't yet been removed from the bed, and this was the most horrific sight of them all. A woman lay spreadeagled on the blood-soaked sheets, naked from the waist down. Her entire body was covered in blood. On closer inspection, it was fairly obvious why -hundreds of small, deep claw marks all over her, and two pairs of small holes, one pair on either side of her neck. Bite marks.

"It looks almost as if she was mauled," said one of the CSI guys thoughtfully.

"Except animals don't rape you," pointed out Jahari. He glanced at the empty bureau drawers. "Or ransack."

The CSI guy shrugged. Jahari leaned over the body, examining it in morbid curiosity. The woman's eyes were closed, her mouth slightly open. He watched her face interestedly, wondering. _What happened to you?_

Without thinking, he touched the corpse.

And heard a scream.

A woman's scream, high, shrill, and absolutely terrified. All he knew was the sound; it was in his ears, his head, his heart... His vision went foggy -he could barely see. He realised he was the one screaming, and twisted around in fear of the reason why.

His arms hurt; he felt invisible claws tearing into them, and all over him. Fangs sank into his neck, and for a moment, he felt entirely numb. But the feeling didn't last - in another moment, his veins were on fire. He screeched in utter agony, and then -

Everything went black.


	2. In the Hospital

**Chapter 2: In the Hospital**

**Mercy Hospital 6:23 PM**

Ritze D'viiro didn't hear her partner scream. But she saw him suddenly arch and writhe as if in pain, and she saw him collapse. It was so sudden, so unexpected...

_What happened?_ she wondered, now standing in the hall of the hospital. After Jahari had fainted, they had naturally called an ambulance. The doctors could find nothing wrong with him, but still Ritze feared the worse. She knew her friend's history.

Her interpreter caught her eye and motioned to the short, balding man coming their way. Captain Harbinger - a bossy tomato on legs. "Ritze!" he boomed. She winced. "Ritze, what the hell is going on!"

"I don't know," she signed, her interpreter translating it into vocal English. "The doctors say there is nothing wrong with him."

"What the doctors say," puffed Harbinger, "and what is true are often very different things. Besides, Jahari isn't normal. Are any of these doctors qualified to deal with vampires?"

"Sir, not so loud -"

"What I want to know, Ritze, is _what the hell is going on here!_"

"I don't know!" she repeated vehemently. "I just saw him collapse. The others say he screamed. I don't know what happened."

Harbinger sighed and leaned against the window, looking into the room where Jahari lay. "I knew letting him back on the streets so soon was a bad idea," he muttered. "I should never have let him talk me into it."

"Don't blame yourself," said Ritze. "'Hari's a good detective. He'd hate being cooped up."

A nurse came out of Jahari's room and nodded at Harbinger and Ritze. "You can go in if you want."

"Good," grumbled Harbinger. He went inside, followed by Ritze. Jahari was awake and sitting up; beside him sat a good-looking man in a wheelchair. Ritze raised her eyebrows - when had Jeff come in?

"Hey, cap, hey, Riz," mumbled Jahari drowsily, pushing himself up. Ritze smiled at him and gave a small wave. He yawned. "What's up?"

"You went crazy, that's what, if the reports are correct, which I am sure they are," puffed the captain. "Mind telling us what happened?"

Jeff watched Ritze and Harbinger wordlessly, without even so much as a hello passing his lips. This was different from the Jeff of years past, the one Ritze had known, the one who wore cowboy boots and a ubiquitous smile and always had a new story to tell. This Jeff was a paralytic confined to a wheelchair, who rarely spoke.

And Jahari - Jahari's health, physical and otherwise, had always been delicate, but now it had taken a definite turn for the worse. He was skinner than usual - a walking skeleton - and constantly exhausted. Even his hair looked tired, lying as it did like strips of limp black silk. And Ritze knew, though he never said it, that Jahari was starving. Starving as only a vampire could. She realised Jahari's unwillingness to kill anyone, even for food, but she didn't want him to starve himself to death. And now this -whatever had happened, it was too much for him. Somehow.

_The Incident really changed a lot, _Ritze thought sadly.

Her interpreter nudged her, breaking her out of her private musings, and pointed to Jahari. He was talking now, in a very soft voice accompanied by sign language.

"When I touched it," he was saying, "I suddenly heard screaming. Just ... screaming. Everything went blurry and smeary, like looking into fast-moving water. I actually _felt_ claws tearing into me. Pretty soon, all I knew was pain. It was awful, like ... like..." he trailed off, unable to continue. The memories hurt too much.

Jeff leaned over and gave him a comforting one-armed hug, while Ritze settled herself on the side of the bed and patted his shoulder. Harbinger rolled his eyes at the sight and sighed in frustration. "Jahari, maybe you should sit this one out. Stay at home. Recuperate. I don't want to lose my best detective. One of them," he added with a glance at Ritze.

"Then why are you telling me to leave," muttered Jahari, pouting.

"Well, you aren't much good to me in a hospital bed," snapped Harbinger. "And if you're going to land yourself in here constantly..."

"Chief, I'm _sorry -_"

"_Enough_," said a low male voice. Jahari and Harbinger both looked over, surprised; it was Jeff. "We don't know what happened, so you can't blame 'Hari for it."

"I'm not," said Harbinger. Neither detective believed him; they knew their captain too well. "I just don't think he's, well, _ready_ yet."

"I have to disagree," said Jahari, rising. Ritze's interpreter glanced at her and signed something. _There's venom in his tone. A lot of it._

"I agree with 'Hari," Ritze signed, her interpreter translating. "He can do this. This here," she motioned to the room, "is no reason to stop." _Besides, _she added to herself, _I know him. He needs something to do - something to immerse himself in so he can't brood. He's even said solving other people's problems takes his mind off his own._

Harbinger rolled his eyes to the heavens and gave an overly-exasperated sigh. "What am I going to do with you two?" he asked, throwing his hands up in surrender. "All right, fine, you can stay on the case. But I swear, you're going to get yourself killed one of these days!"

An eerie silence followed the remark, and Jahari fixed Harbinger with a piercing glare that was more disconcerting than it was malevolent. Ritze winced. _That _one had hit too close to home.

Harbinger was a man who rarely apologized, convinced that he was in the right in all he did. But this time, even he cast his eyes to the floor and mumbled, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"It's okay," said Jahari icily, his voice coming out in a hiss.

A year ago, a remark like that would have made everyone laugh.

But the Incident had changed a lot, thought Ritze with a sad smile.

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Review Responses (because it's fun):

Imzadi: Thanks. And I have no idea who you would cast in the leads. XD; I don't watch enough Angel or Buffy to do a good crossover, but I hope to do crosses with the other Law and Orders (especially SVU 3) and maybe other shows. Depends. But that's a great idea. D


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